2023 Volume 9 Issue 2 Pages A_335-A_341
Many local governments in Japan have introduced community bus services to improve the accessibility of public transport and the mobility of vulnerable road users. Recently, however, many local governments are making a great effort to increase community bus users, improve profitability and reduce subsidies because of financial difficulties. Therefore, identifying the factors that influence community bus origin-destination (OD) demand is one of the most important research issues. This study mainly aims to identify the factors that influence community bus OD demand by focusing on (1) the characteristics of catchment areas of community bus stops, (2) the distances between community bus stops and other public transport stops, and (3) the distance between origin and destination community bus stops. As a result, we found that the following are important to increase community bus OD demand: (1) integrate community bus services and other public transports, (2) install community bus stops in the areas where many urban amenities are provided, (3) provide many urban amenities in community bus stop catchment areas, and (4) shorten the distance between origin and destination community bus stops in the areas where many amenities are provided.
